State lawmakers put off decision on request to block state workers' pay raises

July 12, 2011|By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter

A bipartisan panel of state lawmakers will put off a decision Tuesday on a request by Gov. Pat Quinn to block scheduled 2 percent pay increases for 30,000 unionized state workers, the co-chair of the committee said.

The workers union filed a federal lawsuit Friday in Springfield asking a judge to order the administration to pay the wage hikes that were scheduled to start July 1. The union has accused Quinn of violating the labor contracts.

In light of the lawsuit, the co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules decided to keep lawmakers out of the legal fight, at least for now.

State Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano, R-Elmwood Park, said that after talking to various panel members, he felt it was prudent to defer action on the raises. Saviano also said the 376-page proposed emergency rule was not on the panel's agenda.

The committee, however, may have to take up the matter at its scheduled mid-August meeting, barring any court ruling, Saviano said.

The Democratic governor has said state lawmakers, in approving a state spending plan for the budget year that began July 1, failed to appropriate enough money to pay for raises to workers in 14 state agencies, the bulk of employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31.

Quinn has maintained that labor contracts give him the ability to withhold the raises, which are estimated to total $75 million, because they weren't appropriated by lawmakers.

House lawmakers approved the budget with the intention that the raises not be funded, though some senators may not have been aware of the issue, Saviano said.

The union said it will stage informational picket lines at more than 75 work sites across the state on Tuesday, including at several state prisons where correctional center employees have not received their pay increases.